Saturday, 29 June 2013

The trick to painting

The trick to painting, and this may seem over simple, is applying material. One has to know what a brush will do, how much paint a brush will hold, and what something should look like when it’s time to move on. I spend a lot of my time trying to improve my methods, and a lot of this I’m still working out. Here are some things I’ve learned.

Ornate, repetitive woodwork that is often very high will leave you figuring out which way to work your ladders, which faces faces should be painted in what order, fixing bad wood or flaked paint that you missed during prep, and how to always be doing something with the brush you have in your hand. When you’re running up and down, moving ladders and buckets around, cleaning, wiping drips, and scratching your head, you are not applying material.

Painting is two-fold: you’ve got to go the distances and got to get the details. Mix it up for your sanity, and it isn’t a bad place to start by going with how you feel. If I’m feeling patient, I’ll paint the rings on columns which need to be pencil tight. If I’m restless and have had my coffee, I’ll throw the ladder against the side of the house and go. It’s all gotta get done. Always start top to bottom, meaning go high and work down as much as you can. Remember your left hand/ right handedness as to which way you work. Try to work above the end of your ladder, in other words don’t be reaching through it, behind it, etc. Ladder placement depends on the lay of the land and features of the house so you’ll just have to cipher as you go depending on your job. Use a step ladder when you can, it’s best to stay off the paint and also you can reach further from one spot. Get a ladder hook for your paint kettle

so you’re not having to hold it. Use the brush holes in the ladder or the hollow spaces in the rung to hold your bristles sideways. Now, lets talk about those bristles.